OverLord
by DemonicDragonSlayer101
Summary: When Alex Mercer was violently dragged out of his world, he thought it was all over! Now reborn as a magician, he has a new meaning to his life, and a goal that he must accomplish. However, unknown to him, he is not the only one with an ultimate goal! A new prophecy has been set, fate has been driven off course, and Heaven and Hell have begun readying their blades!
1. The Rebirth Cycle

How do I start this? I have never really done this before, so I am kind of new to the whole 'narrate your life' gimmick. I guess my name would be a good start!

The name is Alex Mercer, and please do not get me confused with that sociopathic shmuck from Prototype. We share the same name, and that is as far as we both go on the similarities list. Instead of  
a smart, edgy, power-hungry, warpath stricken twenty year old guy, I am just a smart, edgy, power-hungry, warpath stricken fifteen year old kid. Wait a minute . . . .

Okay, just do me favor and forget I said anything! You done? Good! Now let us get started. Uh, where was I supposed to start from again? Oh right, the beginning of anything and everything; the end! And with that in mind, I died!

* * *

A fifteen year old kid getting struck by a bolt of lightning was not something that was common on your day-to-day News headlines. Of course, it was not something that was too alarming either. Sure, they will put up a few more warnings by the time the next storm comes rolling about. At most, I would get a decent burial, with the head of the city council attending to say a few words along the lines of 'Someone so young should not meet a fate so cruel blah blah blah * _insert generic political figure head speech over mournful disaster*_ and we need to improve our citizen's state of being'. Hey and before you go and say that I am just spilling nonsense, I would like to have you know that I saw the entire thing with my own two eyes. Well technically speaking my eyes were inside the coffin, but who cares about technicality? Seeing the coffin lowered into the earth made the entire thing look really weird. On one hand my body is being lowered into the cold pitiful Earth, while on the other hand my soul was being raised into the bright blissfully blue sky. And for a moment there I got you thinking that I was going to heaven! Ha Ha Ha . . . . No! Although, to be fair, I thought the same thing at first. After all, the general consensus was that the gracious and everlasting heavens lies in the sky, while the burning unforgiving pits of hell lie dead underneath our feet. Who knows, maybe that is true, but I was never able to find out! Before I could reach what seemed to look like a large pearly white gate in the distance, surrounded by large soft and tender clouds with angelic beings sitting atop, the sky suddenly darkened, and the whole world suddenly went black. It was not a metaphor. Between me and my apparent destination a gargantuan sphere had formed without any forewarning that it was ever going to appear. The sphere was a complete void-like entity, sucking in anything and everything around it. The light around the edges began to bend inwards, until it too was lost in the ever expanding void.

' _A black hole!'_ I thought frighteningly.

In this perilous moment, as my soul was being pulled towards the singularity, I failed to notice how it was not just the singularity that was turning everything so terrifyingly dark. Everything in a several thousand kilometer radius had been brought under a dark unrelenting storm. The people down below thought it was another freaky weather phenomenon, but that idea was soon abolished. This was not freaky! This was apocalyptic! The monstrous black clouds hurled thunderbolts at the land below, vaporizing and morphing the landscape of the area encompassed under their looming gaze. The angelic beings that were once smiling and radiating a Heavenly aura had now suddenly turned stern. Hundreds of millions of people felt the anger seeping out of these beings, their frail mortal bodies suddenly seeming on the verge of collapse. All this, just through an expression of their emotions. The power was frightening needless to say, and yet, in the aspect of what it was to come, it was still so tiny.

I saw this orchestra of power take place between my own two corporeal eyes. The Heavens had sensed the danger that this foreign entity posed, and if a battle between them and this unholy 'thing' was to take place here then the entire Earth may fall subject to death and destruction. And with that in mind, the entire stage was flung away. All three of us, the Heavens, the Singularity and of course the most important piece of all, Me. All three of us were moved until the earth was just another distant part of the background in space. From looking no bigger than a ball, to shrinking into a speck of dust, to completely disappearing completely, the Earth was seemingly gone. Earth's crisis was averted. Mine, not so much!

The entire time that I was hailed, sucked and flung around I could do nothing but look on and watch as I was being drawn closer and closer towards the hailing void. At the time I did not pay much attention to the details, but I was falling towards it for an extremely long time. If the black hole had a diameter that stretched across at least several kilometers, and it formed only a few hundred kilometers away from me, then it should have only taken several seconds before I was sucked in. It was only later on that I learned that it was the influence of the Heavens that kept me from getting pulled in any faster. Not that it did much!

At the time, I might have been just a second away from the black hole, right on the verge of crossing the event horizon. That is when it happened! The white pearly gates that had remained shut all the way till now, suddenly and violently began to shake. The angelic beings looked at the shaking gate in absolute fear, almost as if it was their lives that were being threatened. Then suddenly without warning, the gates burst open, and for a brief moment, everything stopped. No I do not think you understand what I mean when I say 'everything stopped'. Time had completely stopped altogether! Barring me, everything that had been going on up till now had been put on a halt, as if someone had hit a pause button while watching a movie. I was no longer being pulled into the black hole, which was a major relief, but my mind still had only one thought that was rolling over and over on repeat.

' _WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON!?'_ I thought while having completely lost all form of rationality. Since when was dying supposed to be so damn complicated? Before I could think of anything else, never mind actually doing something useful, a large blinding light shot forth from the pearly gates. The speed at which it travelled made it hard to make out, but I knew one thing for sure. It was headed straight for me! As it moved closer, the power which had previously halted time slowly began to lose its hold. I was slowly and gradually being pulled towards the singularity once more while having no way of doing anything.

My world at this point was only filled with two things, Black and White. The blinding light of the Heavenly figure, and the void that consumed it all. They each were fighting over one another, trying their best to reach me first, but each attempt was to no avail. They both were evenly matched. This little race ended when half of me got divided completely down the middle. The blinding white light that I had mentioned earlier had now made it to my side, and while although back then it was too hard, and too bright, for me to understand what was going on, I now know it was actually trying to enter my body through my right. My left half was already within the event horizon, and yes, I did not die! Now from here onwards I am a bit skeptical to say what happened after all that. It was something like a tug in the gut, a feeling of vertigo, then getting engulfed in darkness, only to be followed by something that I still cannot quite understand:

" _ **Alex Mercer, You have been chosen"**_

* * *

Do not ask me how long I was knocked out, because I just realized that I never bothered finding out myself. Although, judging by how much my body was aching, and my lethargic mood, made me estimate that I may have slept for more than at least twelve hours. Despite me often sleeping in, I was not exactly the type of person who liked doing so. It was just my resting body taking control over my conscious, making sure that I stayed asleep, causing me to wake up in the middle of the evening, a full four hours of productivity having been wasted to nothing but mere lying down. Sorry! Got side tracked, again!

So I woke up, YAY! Where? No clue! All I can tell you was that I was suspended in a pitch black void. Or at least, so I thought!

After a minute of getting my lethargic body accustomed to waking up, I looked forward only to notice that someone else was there. Around ten or fifteen meters away from me, also suspended in this pitch black void was a girl. She looked groggy, as if she had just woken up as well. Slowly brushing off the blonde hair that covered the front side of her face, she finally noticed me who was looking back at her, each of us bewildered that there was someone else here.

"Uhh hi" I said, trying to see if she knew anything of what was going on. The girl gave me a confused look, looking at me as if she was trying to make out what I said. Before I could continue, I saw her lips move in the exact manner as one would when they are speaking.

' _Wait a damn minute'_ I thought, pondering over the possibility. Our voice was still here, or at least I knew that I still had my own voice. That much was obvious. If I had suddenly lost the ability to speak, then I would not be able to hear my own voice when I had spoken. So somehow, we are being restricted from speaking to each other, for reasons unknown.

While I came to that conclusion, my mind suddenly began thinking about the way each of us was suspended. When I previously mentioned how I was suspended in midair (Does 'midair' count in a void? After all I was still breathing!), I kind of lied. In reality, my legs were being supported from an invisible platform underneath. I felt the normal pull of gravity coming from beneath it, with no clue what could be causing it. I tried taking a step forward, and much to my pleasure, saw that the platform continued. And so I took another, and another, and another, and then stopped. Another invisible barrier, but this time in front of me. It did not take a genius to figure out that it was some sort of invisible box. It was probably also the reason why we could not hear each other. Looking forward once again, I saw that the girl had arrived to the exact same conclusion almost at the same time that I did. Her hand pushed against the invisible wall was testimony to that fact.

' _So we can't speak, but we sure as hell can see each other! WAIT, so we can still see one another, and there is no one else around'_ as the thought rolled through my head, I adopted a leering grin on my face as a perverse thought suddenly came to mind. Hey, can you blame me? She was really pretty! The girl was still looking at me, and only now did I realize that she was crossing her hands over her head the entire time, hoping to get my attention. I looked at her and saw she was trying to say something out loud, but did so while saying it slowly, and in a manner that allowed a person to see every use of the others mouth as they spoke. She had already realized that we both would need to lip read in order to communicate, and from the looks of it she was already trying.

Looking at the words she was trying to mouth, it took me a few seconds to realize what she was saying:  
' _Lip read'_

' _No duh'_ I thought. _'That much was kinda obvious. Now my turn'_

I only said one word repeatedly, emphasizing on the movements of my lips, much like she did. Looking at my lips, it only took her a moment to realize what I said, after which her face was stricken with horror, while her cheeks had turned a slight shade of pink. Not even hesitating in the slightest she raised both her middle fingers, not wanting to spell out the _'fuck you'_ that would have come my way had we not been isolated by these barriers.

Laughing in my cell at my perverse joke, I barely caught the glimpse of her laughing too. How hilarious! Both of us just died probably just a day ago, might have gone through the same hell that I went through, only to land in some limbo type void with no way of hearing or interacting with one another, and the first thing I could think of was that! I mean come one! How was I still sane at this point in time? Was I really even dead, or was I just dreaming? Who knows, since I still ask myself that question everyday ever since what happened now.

After we both had shaken off our laughing fit, we tried to see what in the world were we thrown into.

' _You know anything about reincarnation stories?'_ she asked. For a moment, I did not want to believe what I was hearing (Or technically speaking 'seeing'). _'You know, all those ones of someone dying and being reborn into their dream hood fictional verse, or the ones where . . .'_ Before she could finish what she was saying, I crossed my hands side to side signaling her to stop.

' _Don't tell me you read them too! Do we literally have the same mentality when it comes to rebirth?'_ I said, hoping for the best.

' _Reborn with future knowledge, learn everything there is to learn, become powerful, etc. etc. etc., yeah I've been there!'_ she replied, a smile now evident on her face.

' _You up for world domination?'_ I asked

' _Yup, but no back stabbing'_ she said in a slightly menacing, yet friendly, tone! (Which I inferred through her facial expressions because I am awesome that way!)

' _Ha, like I'm going to do anything to the one person who could arguably understand me the most'_ I replied.

' _So which verse do you think it is?'_ she asked

' _Absolutely no clue. Just hope for the best and pray we get some power like 'The Gamer''_ I said.

' _No shit! What shmuck would pass up an opportunity to get 'The Gamer''_

' _What shmuck still uses the word 'shmuck'?'_

' _Fuck off'_

' _And a happy fuck you too'_ Up till now the two teens were just content with being in each other's company. Their words might come out as offensive, but to each other it was just plain playful.

' _We at most have some pseudo-Gamer power up that prevented us from collapsing into sheer insanity up till this point in time'_ I said, re-initiating the conversation.

' _Makes sense, but that does not have to be the case. I am under the impression that you were not exactly the most heartfelt souls in your previous life. Much to my guess, you were probably cold and calculating, and often chose the most logical choices even if they did not often seem to be the moral one! In other words, you and I were practically the same! As such, I think that we each are not ones that collapse as easily as others! I think it is safe to say that out higher mental capabilities have prevented us from entering such state of being.'_ Her guess was nearly dead on the spot. However, the moment I heard her say that, I could tell that there was a bit of a superiority complex fitted in her cunning mind. And the last time I checked, it was the arrogant that always fall!

' _A logical choice is a logical choice'_ I replied, ' _and morality is subject to those with the power to change it to their desire. A subjective concept is not something that makes one good or bad, but just good or bad from the perspective of those that define it.'_ I countered. ' _As for your point saying we have higher mental capabilities, I would rather that neither of us get on that high horse bullshit! At most we were cold and calculating, each of us understanding a good deal of science, spending our time immersed in studies, further trying to expand your knowledge pool. You were probably also a Viner, spending your free time undergoing debates between fictional characters, or imagining hypothetical unreal situations that are never to occur! We are the type of people that do not base our arguments off of emotional appeal, but rather off of sound, logical, backed up statements, not allowing our own emotions to take over. However, there are times when our minds can still be overcome by overwhelmingly horrid situations, and due to nothing more but the biology and physiology of how our brain works, we experience emotions such as fear. I think it is more likely that we have some higher power ensuring that we don't go mad, and we've probably been given power similar to 'The Gamer's Mind' to prevent us from collapsing into total insanity'_ I had to take a deep breath after my long rant, my mind having already reached its peak of mental exhaustion!

' _Alright Alright, but can we stop talking about this philosophical crap and just figure out what's going on?'_ she said. She was not wrong when she said we each went a bit far off topic. I was about to reply, but the interruption caused by the barrier halted me in my tracks.

The once invisible barrier that kept us both in our places had now turned a translucent shade of blue. We each looked at each other trying to make out what we could of it. After a minute of examining the barrier, I was about to resume speaking, when words suddenly popped up on the now visible wall:

 **Greeting fellow mortals! Do not despair,  
for you have been selected by  
** _ **The Rebirth Engine**_

Looking across towards the girl, I saw she had the same expression that I had the moment that words began to pop up on screen; one expression of complete nonchalance. Taking one last look at her, I began to continue reading the words that popped up on screen.

 **The individuals who are selected for  
** _ **The Rebirth Trials  
**_ **Are those who have shown the resilience, aptitude,  
and willingness to use their power for causing  
** **ABSOLUTE DOMINATION  
** **In each of your case, the concept of** _ **rebirth**_ **is not new,  
and as such, it is not necessary to explain.**

 **If you have not already noticed,  
you each have been given an ability called  
'The Sorcerer's Mind'**

The moment the name of the ability popped up both me and the girl gave each other a knowing look.

' _Hey I was close enough'_ I said in a snarky manner. She responded with another 'finger' while sticking her tongue out as well!

 **The sorcerer's mind is a rare ability,  
one that has only been granted to you two individuals.  
If you wish to examine the scope of its abilities,  
please just say its name out loud to observe**

"View Ability: Sorcerer's Mind" I said out loud. Without any delay, a blue box appeared right in front of my face. I looked across to see the girl reading something suspended in midair. Despite the fact that she looked like she was reading, I could not see anything that was possibly there. In conclusion, we each could only see our own abilities, unless of course we did something about that later on. Not focusing on her any longer, I began to read the box that had appeared out of thin air.

 **[The Sorcerer's Mind]  
(Tier: Max) – (Level: Max)  
The Sorcerer's Mind grants the user the ability to always remain calm  
and use their mind to create the most logical solution in all forthcoming  
situations. The user is also immune to any form of mentally ill effects  
such as insanity, craziness, induced drunkenness, forced sleep, forced coma,  
telepathic attacks, mind reading, mind controlling,  
and many other variants of mental attacks.**

 **Sorcerer's Mind also grants the user higher level intellect along with  
improved cognitive functions, memory retention skills, and critical thinking  
in all situations.**

 **As wizards are dependent upon their wisdom and intelligence,  
learning, creation and combination of spells shall be of utmost ease.**

I read the ability description in complete awe. If what this says is true, then it was even better than 'The Gamer's Mind'! Just 'The Gamer's Mind', mind you! The full 'Gamer' ability was still far more overpowered than anything that I have ever seen before. Or at least for any rebirth situations where one wanted to rule the world.

 **Now that you have acquainted yourself with both each other  
AND  
your abilities  
it is only fair to now give a brief overview of the world you have been selected to join!**

 **You will be joining the Percy Jackson Verse (PJV)!  
You will be sent in a time where Percy is fifteen,  
just one year away from the war with Kronos!**

 **Before you jump with joy and excitement, there is a twist!  
You will not have any naturally given abilities from the PJV!  
Instead you will each be gifted with the natural magical abilities of  
The Harry Potter Verse (HPV)!**

' _What the hell does he mean when he says natural abilities?'_ I thought. I did not ponder over it too much and continued reading the text.

 **Of course there will be differences with the magic that you employ,  
and the one that the HPV generally portrays, but we will not get into that!**

 **You will learn about all of that in your own due time.**

 **Now of course is for the most important part of  
** _ **The Rebirth Cycle**_

 **Perk Selection!**

' _What in the world is perk selection? I've gone through plenty of rebirth light novels, and have even seen all those 'Gamer type' reborn fanfics, but I've never heard of this!'_ I thought, unsure if I was going to like what I was about to read.

 **From the list below  
you are to choose five Ability Perks**

 **+1 godly Lineage Abilities (No Weaknesses)  
+1 godly Lineage Abilities (No Weaknesses)  
+1 godly Lineage Abilities (No Weaknesses)  
Enhanced Intellect  
Target Seeking Spells  
Auto Spell/Shield/Rune Casting  
Enhanced Magic Power Output  
Enhanced Magic Growth Factor  
Ability To Add AoE To All Spells  
Multi-Projectile High Speed Spells  
Magic Conduit Requirement Removed  
Enhanced Necromancy + Umbra kinesis  
Create Self-Returning/Repairing Magic Conduit  
+1 Horcrux (Without Side Effects + Stronger Protection)  
+1 Horcrux (Without Side Effects + Stronger Protection)  
+1 Horcrux (Without Side Effects + Stronger Protection)**

I looked at the list of perks with my eyes looking like they were about to pop. All the options looked really good, but of course, I could not have them all! I looked towards the girl, who was now backed against the barrier, looking just as stunned at the options as I was. Waving my arms over my head, I got her attention motioning her to come forward.

Looking at the 'godly Lineage Abilities' I finally understood what the text message meant when it said 'no natural abilities'. In case you did not, then understand it like this. Percy Jackson was born to Sally Jackson and Poseidon. Now he was naturally born into the Poseidon Lineage, and as a result he got all the abilities a son of Poseidon would get. If you are a child of Athena you get greater intellect, child of Ares and you get enhanced battle affinity. In our case, we get to choose which of the godly lineages we want to employ, that is if we want to employ any at all!

' _I think I know 'one' option that we both should take!'_ I said, letting her read my lips.

' _Which one?'_ She asked

' _Horcrux!'_ I replied. _'We each could take one Horcrux, and just hear me out, implant it in one another! A Horcrux already seems to have its own tendency to defend itself, and so we can count it as an auto shield to some sorts, making it a two-in-one deal. Also, this will practically make it impossible for one of us to get killed as someone would have to kill both of us simultaneously. As long as one of us lives, we each could always revive one another!'_

' _Don't get me wrong, that sounds great and all, but we're going to a verse filled with death gods and primordial calamities. Beings that conceptualize aspects of human belief. Sure we might not get killed by any demi-god, but it might be possible that gods such as those seated in Olympus, or the ones in the House of Horus could easily smite us!'_ Her argument was not wrong, and it was well thought out, but I still felt like going with my idea.

' _Hmm, well either way, I don't see why we shouldn't take the Horcrux. I think both you and I came to the same conclusion when I say that we should not take two or three godly abilities. Only one shall be sufficient! If we take all three, or even two, then we are basically sacrificing our mobility and stealth for power. Monsters are able to hunt demi-gods because of the divine blood that resides within them. Now imagine how far our divine scent would go if we took two or three of the god's lineages. Not to mention demi-god powers are heavily implied to be stamina draining, and taking all three at once might not be the best idea. Sure, the combination of three demi-god blood abilities will also give us a huge boost in stamina, but the fact remains that those powers are not versatile enough. Even if we took all the big three's abilities, which would mean Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, against any brutish opponent we would be an unstoppable force of nature, but to anyone with even a bit of a versatile edge we would be left helpless. What's the point of firing lighting, shadow travelling and water bending when your opponent can turn you into a guinea pig?'_ I would have continued, but in the one small moment that I stopped to take my breath, the girl already launched her own explanation.

' _Even if that is true just remember one thing, we are not giving up our magical powers! We still retain our affiliation with the mystic arts, and we will have a major power boost alongside it. In the end even you cannot deny that the Water Based Regeneration granted by being a child of Poseidon is a bit overpowered. Not to mention, I think it is possible that with the power boost that we get through being a demi-god, we should have an increased magical ability boost automatically. After all, nearly everything that the gods do is done through divine power. Why on earth should it be any different than magic. A demi-god's soul should be leagues stronger than that of a regular mortal, and so I think it's safe to say that the influence of divine blood would lead to higher magical capabilities.'_

' _Man she's a pretty good debater'_ I thought. _'But luckily, so am I!'_

' _I'm not saying you're wrong! But I'm not saying you're right either! After all it's still just speculation whether or not divine blood is going to help amplify our magical proficiency, so basing our choice off of that alone does not seem to be the best idea. If we did, then we should take all reasonable forms of speculation into account, and that's not exactly going to help us now is it. I think the best way we should approach this is by putting our highest priorities first, and then seeing where we could improve our other stats. I think the most important thing we should look at is 'wand less magic'. And while although I will seem like a hypocrite for saying this, I have speculations over whether taking this will increase our magical proficiency!_

' _Oh ho, and what makes you say that now?'_ asked the girl in a snarky manner.

' _Look at the list one more time. You see how there is an option that includes 'self-returning/repairing magical conduit'. Well just ask yourself this, 'why would they include that in?' After all, if you have placed the option 'wand less magic' right next to it, then what idiot in the right mind would pick a self-returning and repairing wand when they can perform magic that requires no conduit. My guess is that these conduits, which are probably just the wands we often hear about, each have a different level of power. Now I don't think that's too farfetched to believe, seeing as the elder wand was considered a superior wand compared to all others. Different wands may show different levels of power. Notice how it also says 'create returning/repairing conduits' implying that we might want to change which wand we are holding onto later on. The only reason anyone would want to change their wand is if they have found a superior one to replace their current one. So that leads me to ask one question: If wizards who are unable to perform proficient wand less magic use wands to amplify their power, what would happen if a wizard who can perform proficient wand less magic was to use a wand? For all we know it would be tantamount to squaring the multiplier that amplifies your magic. After all, the option only says that we 'can use' wand less magic, not 'only use' wand less magic'_

' _Uhhh we keep going off topic! We were originally discussing whether or not we wanted to do the Horcrux thing.'_ Said the girl in what seemed to be an annoyed tone. _'I have an idea! Why don't we each just tell what choice we each want to take, and then we'll discuss it after we both lay it all out? Deal?'_

' _Yeah, that sounds fine'_ I said. _'So do you want to go first?'_

' _Nah, I'm still thinking mine over! You go on ahead.'_ She said.

' _Okay'_ I thought. _'Here goes nothing!'_

' _So for my first option, I am definitely taking wand less magic. My second and third option are the same, taking the godly lineage of Athena and Hades. Athenian Lineage for their enhanced intellect and Hades for … the glory of papa bone! My fourth option is going to be enhanced intellect, giving me a double intellect bonus, while my fifth option depends!'_

' _Depends on what?'_

' _Well, it depends on you! Mainly on the matter regarding the Horcrux thing'_

' _So you're really that hung up on it?'_

' _Yup!'_

' _Uh, alright fine! I was going to choose the Horcrux anyways so it's not much of an issue'_

' _Alright, so that wraps me up! What are you picking?'_ I asked.

' _So I'm taking the abilities from the Hades lineage, along with Enhanced Necromancy, Umbra Kinesis and intellect. Apart from that I have the Horcrux that we decided on from the start, and of course, wand less magic'_

' _Okay so that should wrap it up. Now how do we finalize it? Should we just try willing the abilities into ourselves or do you think . . .'_ I never got to finish my sentence. In the middle of me speaking, another blue box had appeared right out of seemingly nowhere.

 **You have selected the following perks:  
+1 Hades Lineage Abilities  
+1 Athenian Lineage Abilities  
Enhanced Intellect  
Magic Conduit Requirement Removed  
+1 Horcrux**

 **Do you wish to finalize your selection?  
(This option cannot be changed later on!)**

 **[YES** **—** **NO]**

I looked across at the girl, then back at the screen, then back at her again.

' _I guess that answers my question'_ I told her. Looking at her, I saw that she had three fingers raised up, ready and waiting to be counted down. It was quite obvious what the countdown was meant for. Once I gave a thumbs up to confirm I saw her fingers, she began the count down

 _Three . . . Two . . . One . . ._ *push*

We both pressed the buttons simultaneously. There was a sudden tug in my gut, as I felt the same feeling of vertigo as I did when I was first brought here. My entire body seemed to be fading away, slowly turning transparent. As my world turned black, the last thing I saw was the girl just looking back at me with a smile. I smiled back!


	2. Nazarick?

By the time I opened my eyes the first thing that I noticed was the pitch black darkness covering every fiber of my being. A grunt of annoyance escaped from my throat; tired of being stuck in places such as these.

"Well just fan-fucking-tastic" I shouted out loud. Looking down, I saw that this place was a bit different than the one before. Previously when the girl and I were stuck in the void, we were somehow able to see ourselves and each other, as if the girl and I were radiating our own light source. In contrast to my current case, where no amount of squinting allowed me to see a single of my own body parts!

At least the invisible floor was still there! Standing up and stomping my feet onto the floor, I was quite pleased to hear the resounding thud of my boots hitting the cold barrier. After confirming the existence of the barrier, the very next thing that I wanted cleared up was the feeling of a cold small weight that was stuck on my right hand. Using my other hand to feel around, I felt the touch of a smooth metallic object worn across my middle finger. As I moved my fingers around, trying to piece its image in my head, I felt a small semi-circular obtrusion from the top. The obtrusion was smoother, and it did not have the same cold touch of metal, making me guess it was some sort of gem. I was wearing a ring!

Now I would have continued inspecting the mysterious new object, but the unexpected groans coming from just a few meters away stopped me dead in my tracks. Having stopped what I was doing, I decided to zone in on the new voice.

"Why the hell does my head hurt, and where the fuck did I get sent to now?" said a female voice.

"Well somebody finally decided to wake up!" I said, having already guessed the identity of the girl.

"Uhh, man this blows!" she said, her tone making it sound as if she was having a terrible fit of migraines. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"Can't tell! I woke up not more than a minute ago" I replied.

"For Pete's sake, what is up with the pitch black? Couldn't whoever the hell that chose us pick something nice for a change, like a waiting lounge with a TV and sofa?" she said in an annoyed outburst. I felt the same annoyance that she did. This really was getting a bit tiresome!

However, I put such thoughts away, and felt like trying something out, but unfortunately had to push those urges to the side for something more noteworthy. At this point in time, what I was about to do was necessary.

"Uh hey, this seems pretty awkward to ask but, what is your name?" I said, looking towards where the voice originated from.

"Oh yeah! Can't believe we haven't even introduced ourselves. The name is Seilah Rinehart"

' _Not a bad name'_ I thought.

"Yours?" she asked.

"Alex Mercer, and please for fucks sake don't you dare mention even a word from 'Prototype'!" I said, my voice making it evident that I was somewhat pissed. Seilah just gave off a small chuckle, right before passing it off.

"So Seilah, I've been meaning to ask you this, but have you felt something unusually heavy around the middle finger of your right hand?"

"Oh, did you mean the ring? Of course I did! I was just expecting it to see if I can find anything worthwhile. I don't think it's too hard to figure out what it is!"

"Oh really, because I was about to say the exact same thing!" I said, a bit surprised that she was able to figure it out so fast.

"Oh were you now? Sounds like someone just wants to make it look like they're not a collectively slow learner!"

"Excuse me! The last time I checked, I hold the Athenian Lineage alongside the Enhanced Intellect Perk. At this point I have absolute memory over everything, and the understanding of all knowledge that is encompassed in my head surmounts anything that you can ever hope to imagine!"

"That may be true, but don't reminisce over having two Intellect Enhancing abilities just yet. You remain completely ignorant over the fact that I have an Intellect Enhancing ability as well, and while although my comprehensive abilities may be lagging relative to you, it's still enough to keep me right on your tail!" Was it me, or did I feel as if she was trying to make a contest out of everything. At this point we were basically just throwing around unnecessarily long lines of dialogue to make ourselves seem a bit more reputable. That or we both had a competitive spirit! Regardless of what it was, there was no time for such things.

"You know what, just forget about it. I have something much more important to figure out!"

"Wait a minute, what are you ..." I never let her finish!

I opened up my palm and pointed it straight into the surrounding abyss.

" **Lumos"** Saying the incantation clearly, and with the effect having been kept in mind, I felt a sudden rush of energy flow throughout my body. Without any delay, my outstretching palm lit up.

'Lit up' was an understatement!

"WHAT THE HELL! TURN IT OFF ... TURN IT OFF" she shouted in despair.

"AHHH! I'M TRYING I'M TRYING"

It was probably one of the brightest things that I had ever seen in my life, and after the run in with those Angels, that was saying something! Even with our eyes closed, the light was so immensely powerful that it was as if we had never closed them at all! In that moment of desperation, I imagined the power rushing through my body recede. As it did, the once blindingly powerful light slowly began to abate.

When it died down to a point that it was no better than a lighted wooden torch, I stopped calling back my power. Both of us giving ourselves another minute to adjust to the new light, we each finally opened our eyes. When we did, we had to blink a several times before we got accustomed to the new level of light.

"It seems I was correct" I declared, now delighted to know that my magic output had been amplified.

"You meant to say that one of our hypotheses is correct. For all you know the increase in magical output was just due to the divine blood now running through your veins"

"That may be true, but there is a simple way to test this!" I said, confident in my predictions.

"Alright, and that is?" asked Seilah, who now looked tired from hearing me speak in constant riddles.

Not giving any hints I pulled off the ring. The moment I did, the light dimmed even further. From the lighting blaze of a wooden torch, it was now as weak as a dying candle. Seilah looked at it and understood automatically, although I could see she looked vexed. It was probably her feeling disappointed in herself over not coming up with such an idea.

While the cogs in Seilah's ego slowly began to turn, I will give you a brief rundown of the logic that I used while performing my little test.

The reason that I used the spell **'Lumos'** was due to the fact that it was a spell whose effectiveness was measured in a quantitative manner. If unsuccessfully cast, it would create a spell with a lower yield of luminosity. If successfully cast, then it is safe to say that the light would increase in intensity, relative to the unsuccessfully cast one. Now if one was to apply a magical power boost to this spell, then the change would be quite visible, and in this case it was very visible indeed! Now my original hypothesis, if you do not remember, was that by choosing the perk that allowed someone to perform conduit-less magic (A.K.A Wand less magic), then it was likely that a wand less magic user may have his magic power amplified if he was to actually use a conduit.

In this case, I was actually trying to test several things at once! After successfully casting the spell **'Lumos'** on my first try, I was able to affirm one thing, which is that my increased intelligence has led to me mastering the most basic of spells, even if I only know their name from far reaching memories. Secondly, after successfully casting the spell, I came to learn that I can channel the amount of power that I put behind each of my spells, so it is likely that the way we improve our spells may follow a similar semblance to 'The Gamer', just slightly altered in certain unambiguous ways. Thirdly, by removing the ring off my finger while I was still using the spell **'Lumos'** I can confirm one thing, and that is the fact that magical conduits do in fact overlap with our wand less magic, and they do give us an extra boost in magical power.

The things that I learned were crucial for my future growth. A satisfied grin made its way onto my face, my entire figure now relishing in pleasure over the power bestowed onto me. But those thoughts were quickly abolished. I still had a lot to learn, and what I did just now was nothing more than just a quick experiment to see how my very own power functioned.

With all that now being put out of the way, I looked towards Seilah, who during my train of thoughts, had now adopted a bored and slightly annoyed expression.

"You know, you don't have to be so moody" I said, trying to see if I could cheer her up. "The affirmation of my hypothesis into theorem does not invalidate your previous claims! It is highly possible that divine blood does in fact augment the magical abilities of the person in question" I said, sounding quite smug and arrogant as I did. Do not get me wrong, arrogance will get you killed in this world … err … I mean any world, but it was not like I was going to do this all the time. It was just a onetime thing, big deal!

"First of all I'm not moody, I'm just bored after sitting in this boring ass space doing boring ass stuff! Like when are we going to get there? What's with all this mysticism? Just drop us into the new world for fuck's sake!"

"Okay, and ..." I asked, not wanting to be left in the dark.

"And I'm sick of speaking about weird philosophical mumbo jumbo crap! And for god's sake, can you stop using SAT style vocabulary for even two goddamn minutes? Like who gives a shit? I'm thinking about ruling over the world, and then there's you who seems to be fixated on being some sort of modern day William Shakespeare" A droplet of sweat rolled down the side of my forehead. Not even a day into being reborn and some girl is already grilling me out, sheesh! I wanted to contend what she was saying, but the less rational side of me got the better.

"Wha-wha-what the fuck are you talking about?" I retorted. "I was speaking perfectly normal English. You're the one who's just bitching about everything!"

"See, that's better!" She said, now struggling to make a smile. "Now for fuck's sake just stay this way! Short sentences, quick replies and nothing more, got it?"

"Fine! *whispers*Crazy bitch*whispers*"

"What the hell did you say?"

"Oh nothing, nothing!"

' _Jeez, the hell is wrong with this girl. Is she just pissed that I have a higher intelligence stat than her own. I guess pride really does come before the fall!'_

Not wanting to start another argument I just shut up. I slowly walked towards her and sat down next to her crouched up body. As I was hunching down, I realized that this meagre light would not be enough. Equipping my ring, the light immediately brightened, the features of the girl became much clearer. Seilah was not really bothered, having just closed her eyes. And so with neither of us having nothing to do, we each began to just wait!

* * *

For days, four to be exact, we both remained unmoved in the quiet and still darkness. Four days without food, water or even sleep. Why not sleep? It is not like we would not do it, but we could not do it! Maybe it was an additional effect of the 'Sorcerer's Mind', or it was just a property of this strange abysmal world. Either way, it did not bother the either of us two, and so we pushed it to the back of our minds.

As for how I knew it was four days? Simple answer; I counted! Every single second, adding up to every single minute, adding up to every single hour, that lead up to every successive day. How did I memorize all those numbers and simultaneously keep count of every successive second without ever losing track? You know the answer! It was also the reason my count was so precise, my mind having a natural knack timing in all forms of procedure.

So there I was, counting in the dark, with Seilah sitting beside me, eyes closed, with her soft and shallow breathing falling on my chest. I counted, and counted, and waited, and counted again. With each of the four passing days, I was starting to get worried that this might be our current fate. What if this went on for weeks, or months? Maybe even years!

It was the sole reason that I was filled with happiness when everything began to shake.

* * *

Seilah and I shot up, neither of us looking nervous, but rather excited at what was to come. The still and ever so silent platform that we were once standing on was now shaking with an indescribable tremor. Only through extreme concentration and effort were either of us able to remain on our feet.

"What the hell do you think it is now?" asked Seilah

"Probably us getting close. Be prepared for anything! The moment the tremors stop, have your ring hand at the ready and treat everything with extreme prejudice." I said, a resolute, but excited, look having crawled onto my face.

Within a minute, the violent tremors had suddenly subsided. When it did, a wooden door had materialized right before us. The moment I saw the door, my breathing hitched, but only ever so slightly. Seilah caught on and figured something was off!

"What is it? Doesn't look to be anything out of the ordinary!" She said, a bit skeptical over whether she should trust me or not.

"You mean you don't recognize this door?" I asked, unable to see how she could miss something so obvious.

"It does look a bit familiar, but I just can't place my finger over where I last saw it" Her response made a bit of sense. After all, the details of a door were not something that one significantly remembers. "Anything I need to know, or are you intentionally leaving me in the dark?"

"No, I just don't think we need the two of us to be worried. I'm sure the moment we cross, you'll know exactly what I'm referring to" I said, ensuring that nothing I said came out to be too worrisome. She looked at me with a critical face, but the time to argue was scarce. Now was the moment we were waiting for all along. It was time to do this! We both walked up to the wooden door, prompting it to open. There was nothing behind it, just a connecting frame to a continuous black world. Me and Seilah looked towards each other and nodded. With nothing more to lose and with everything said and done, we walked through.

* * *

The moment we passed through the frame, the first thing I noticed was the bright light shining over the dull and empty room. A few window panes to our right let in a few beams of sunlight into the dusty, seemingly unused, area. To the wall opposite was the door that had brought us here originally, although unlike the previous door that acted as a trans-dimensional gateway, this one was nothing more than a plain and ordinary door, similar in appearances only. From behind it came several voices, but all bunched up, making it sound like a busy school corridor that one would hear during the middle of a school day.

"Oh shit!" said Seilah, unable to control her emotions. She recognized the room right away. A few distant watch towers that could be seen from the windows made it all the more obvious as to where we were. "Why here? It clearly said we were going to the Percy Jackson Verse! What the hell are we doing in Ho …"

"Hey Drake, are the new ones here yet?" said a male voice coming from behind the door opposite. The voice was quite loud, making it apparent that whoever so was behind it was about to enter. Seilah had immediately shut up, instead raising up her ring arm and pointing it towards the door.

"Nah, I heard that they're taking time! Some are saying they may be the latest ones yet! You think they're special or something?"

"Ha-ha, real funny man! 'Special', suurrreee!" Judging by the voice of the two people speaking, the two must have been in the same age bracket as both me and Seilah. In fact, after hearing those two, I realized that all of the voices from the corridor were of similar age as well. A sudden thought came to my mind and I acted on it quickly.

"You won't need to do that!" I said in a low voice, not wanting my voice to carry across the room. I looked to the side at Seilah, motioning her to lower her ring arm. She gave me in incredulous look, almost as if I were crazy.

"Why?" She hissed. "What happened to _'treat everything with extreme prejudice_ '? For all we know they could be hostiles! Haven't you heard the phrase 'better safe than sorry'?"

"And have you ever heard the phrase 'first impression is key'? Look just trust me when I say that we don't have to be worried."

"Oh ho, and how do you know everything all of a sudden?" I said nothing but tapped the side of my temples.

"Look just follow my lead, okay!" I said in a hushed tone.

"Follow your lead! Since when did you become team leader all of a sudden? Look, if we get killed …"

"We're not getting killed! Now be quiet, they're coming in any second" I said, keeping my voice low. I did not want to tip off the people outside! Seilah gave me one last bitter look before sighing in defeat. Despite the slow lowering of her arm, she still remained on guard. It was in moments like these that I got to see the beauty of 'The Sorcerer's Mind' in action. Many people in her place would have just acted trigger happy, unable to control their feelings of unbridling fear. Her figure showed none of that, instead showing someone relaxed and completely incautious. It was a good act laid out by her, but I saw through it clearly!

Not a minute after Seilah lowered her arms, two faint snaps were heard rebounding through the room, as two kids that seemed to be around the same age as us were now standing towards us the either of us, face to face.

The two people group consisted of a boy and a girl. The guy was tall, toned and a natural redhead. He was wearing leather boots with blue jeans and a matte black leather jacket, leaving the front zipper open just enough to see the white undershirt. The slick and shiny hair combed to the front end back, along with the laid back attitude that he set off made him seem all the more like a 'greaser' from the 1940's. That was not to say that it was a problem. In fact, he just looked like someone who was pretty chilled and relaxed. Even as I describe him, he guy gave off a kind of happy-go-lucky vibe that just went well with the way he looked. Sure, he was not someone you wanted to hang around in a fancy dinner party, but I was never into that kind of stuff anyway!

The girl on the other hand was something else entirely. She wore a two-piece black collar suit equipped with a white folder tucked between the folds of her arms along with black high heeled leather shoes to complete the set. Unlike the guy who seemed lax in his appearance, the girl was completely stern, making it seem as if she was irritated in having been brought here. She ran her sight across the two of us, almost as if she were evaluating two products for inspection. After taking a cold analytical look, she raised her right arm and snapped her fingers. The sound of a crack was heard, right before a pen had materialized in her hand. Opening her folder up she began to scrawl in some notes, having completely ignored the both of us.

It was only while she was writing did I notice that both of the two teens had a ring equipped on one of their fingers. The shape and make of each of the two rings were pretty different, which was kind of odd seeing as me and Seilah had a matching pair. It also lead me to wonder why in all of the world these people would be equipped with magical rings as well. I would have pondered over it more, but 'Ms. Tuxedo' was done writing whatever she found so important. Giving us one last glance, she signaled the boy on her left, motioning him to give introductions.

"Okay, sorry about that, but Alyssa over here is a bit of a detail freak. Thinks that it's important to have every single little thing noted down!" said the guy in the jacket.

' _Well she's not wrong!'_ I thought.

"Oh! Where are my manners? The name's Drake" The tall guy moved forward and outstretched his hand to the either of us. When Seilah made it apparent that she was not going to budge I decided to do it for her.

"The name's Alex" I said, now firmly shaking his hand. "As for the paranoid hag next to me, her name is SeilaaaaaahhHHH!" After a commenting on a person with an ego as big as hers, the kick in the back was pretty much expected. Tying my best to rub the area where her foot connected, I shot a glare to Seilah, who likewise did it back. The other girl, Alyssa, had no reaction to the entire thing while Drake just chuckled under his breath.

"Okay, so Alex and Seilah. Got it! Now I would want to give you all the brief run down right here and now, but rules are rules and first we gotta ..."

"You're taking too long!" Alyssa cut in having, surprisingly, already run out of her patience! "We've wasted forty-three seconds in unnecessary conversation. Take the male and go get the registration done while I deal with the female"

"You know they have names right?" said Drake, raising his eyebrows at the emotionless teen.

"Get the job done!" said Alyssa, a violet edge now evident in her voice. She outstretched her arm towards Seilah, implying that she take it. For a moment Seilah looked at me with concern, almost as if she were asking me what she should do. When I gave no response, she just shrugged her shoulders in defeat.

"You know what, fuck it! If going with you means answers ..." she did not complete her sentence, suddenly grabbing on to the outstretched hand. The sound of a crack was heard, and in a whirlpool of twisting black, the two ladies had disappeared.

The moment the two were gone, Drake gave off a low whistle.

"Man, is it just me, or can chicks be cold?" said Drake, looking at where the two girls were previously standing. I did not pay much attention to his words, but was more intrigued towards the ring around his fingers. The moment Drake saw where my eyes were focused, he gave off a hearty laugh, which for a moment startled me, seeing as I was in deep thought.

"You seem like a guy that wants to get straight to the point. Now of course I could tell you everything here but ..." Drake motioned his hand around the room, pointing towards all the dusty equipment pushed to the side and all the cobwebs that had formed in the abandoned crevices of unused chairs and tables. "I think my room might be a bit more hospitable! Come one, I'll try to explain some stuff on the way" Walking towards the door he motioned me to follow. I followed him without question!

The moment I passed through the door, I realized that I was standing in a corridor that was filled with teens moving left, right, and center. Some would seem to be in a hurry, while others seemed to be taking a casual leisurely stroll. There were a few groups in the corridor, all of them just standing to the side, everyone chatting away with each other like they were lifelong friends. The moment I made my appearance through the door, half the teens in the corridor had turned their attention towards me. They did not stop walking or talking, but just shot me a small glance. The entire thing only lasted a second before everyone just brushed it off, as if seeing a new face was something they saw on a weekly basis.

One of the few things I noticed was the age bracket of the teens. The youngest seemed to be around fifteen years of age, while the oldest were around eighteen. At the far end of the corridor, where there were a lot less students, was a group of kids that made the cut for the older part of the age bracket. From where I was standing it looked to be a group of, fifteen to sixteen, eighteen year old boys and girls. They all had a dead set expression written on their face, making it seem they were discussing something of utmost importance. Despite all of them looking roughly the same age, only two of them stood out. It was, unsurprisingly, another boy and a girl. I guess being a couple held some importance in this world!

The main thing that stood out about the guy was his rough spiky hair and blood shot eyes, making him seem like some demon that came out the underworld. Unlike everyone around him who was wearing some assortment of whatever fashion trend kids followed nowadays, the guy wore nothing but a white no-collar T-shirt with black-belted jeans. Unlike everyone else who I saw up till now, even from where I was standing, I felt the guy give off a type of meaner and rougher edge, telling anyone he was not someone to be trifled with. He was not crazy looking, but rather he just gave off a more powerful and respected vibe! It was the same reason that caused everyone to form a semi-concentric arc around him.

While although it is true that the guy gave off a type of uncomfortable feel, the girl to his right was another matter entirely. If anyone was to try and describe her with one look, there was only one word that would come to mind; an angel!

Scarlet-red hair flowing and fluttering to her sides, a charming angelic face, only to be finalized with her mature voluptuous body, any man would have been swayed in an uncontrollable sense of concupiscence and lechery. Just by staring at her alone told me the amount of work that 'The Sorcerer's Mind' was putting into keeping me from drooling on the spot.

"So you've got a good eye don't you!" said Drake from behind, prior to him having been leading me down the corridor. "Yeah she's a real beauty alright, but we've learned to stop ourselves from falling over in pure horniness. You on the other hand are gonna start having problems if we don't get you registered. The faster we can get you registered, the faster we can stop you from going googly eyes over every beauty we cross paths with" I stopped and looked at him, expecting him to give even a bit of an explanation as to what he just said. The only response I got was him turning his back to me as he walked off. "You coming? Look I know this is all new and stuff, but trust me when I say that you should just follow me. Everything will be explained in all due time." Not having much of a choice, I gave off a quiet sigh and followed. Catching up the laid-back teen, we turned right around a corner, from where I got one last glimpse at the two 'alphas'. Right before their view disappeared behind the turn, the blood-shot teen turned his gaze towards me. Our eyes connected and in that split second in which it did, all the hairs on my body stood on end. Was that even supposed to happen? Now walking a bit faster, I paced myself with Drake who seemed to have been increasing his speed ever so slightly.

We ended up walking the length of three different corridors and a flight of two stairs. In that time I had seen an assortment of teens moving back and fro across the corridors, most of them looking like they were in an apparent rush, while others just stood around idle, as if they did not have a care in the world. As we passed by, some of the teens would shoot me a glance, but nothing beyond that. It was as if the appearance of a complete new stranger was something that was a common occurrence.

While although I was really keen to figure out what was going on, I had no other option but to follow willingly and await proper answers. Otherwise, the only other thing I could do was jot down details in my head. Everything from the clothing styles of the people that passed by, to the walking suits of armor that we would occasionally cross paths with, and not to mention the magic rings that was located on one of everyone's digits. I made sure that I took in as much information as I can, hoping to utilize it later. Although, after five minutes of just walking in a slow bristle pace, I could hold back no longer.

"So you going to explain shit or what?" I said, not able to understand why it was taking so long. I guess going with Alysa would have been a better option!

"Patience dude! We're almost there. There's no better place for me to go all 'exposition machine' on you other than my room. I'm already tired as it is and I don't want to explain everything while I'm on an empty stomach. You're probably hungry as well, so we both could get some blueberry pies and a couple of cokes. Once we're both fed and settled down ..."

By that point half my mind was already shut down. He seemed like a nice guy, but the problem was that he just rattled on and on like there was no tomorrow. Technically speaking we did have time, but I was a guy that liked doing things quick. It made me wonder how different this would have played out had I gone with the girl.

"Uh why exactly are we walking? Apparition is an option too you know!" The guy turned to look at me and gave me a look that made it seem like I was asking about the obvious.

"Well I mean we could walk, but everyone needs to take a jog every now and then. I mean you are getting to stretch out your legs a little aren't ya."

"For ... A jog?" I asked quizzically.

"Yup" He said, turning his head forward and continuing on without a word.

' _This guy really is something else isn't he'_ I thought dejectedly. Fortunately my dejection lasted for no more than a second, as we finally reached our destination.

Just one more corner and we would arrive. When we did turn that corner, however, what I saw made me stop in my tracks. All the way down the other end of the corridor was a large archway, one that was at least ten times the size of the doors leading to Hogwarts's dining hall. The archway connected the corridor to what seemed like another large hallway, one that extended far beyond what the eye could ever hope to reach.

Within the hall, a strange semi-circular carving seemed to repeatedly run along the length of the wall; each spaced a good fifty meters from one another. I would have not paid it much attention, if it were not for the fact that for every carving a teen, or a group, would be seen apparating either to or from it.

It was clearly evident that the main hall was made using 'spatial manipulation' magic. That was not too surprising, seeing as the Harry Potter verse had already shown such utilities. What really struck me surprising was the sheer size of the space that was being manipulated. It must have taken time for something like this to have been built, and if it did then that means that there must be enchantments put in place in order to fortify it. While that in itself was something that would draw a lot of attention, something else that really drew my mind were the people apparating into and out of the strange carvings running down the length of the hall. Nobody used a carving that was previously used by someone else, and anytime a group of teens were seen apparating next to one of the carvings, there was always someone that everyone gave a little room to. By the looks of it, said carvings was specific to one and only one person. Every time a group of people wanted to apparate together, it seemed one of the group's members would allow the others to tag along. By my best guess, each of these carving were a seal that lead to a personalized room. The room was stored in a pocket space, once again utilizing 'spatial manipulation' magic. If that was true, then in others words what I was seeing was manipulated space within manipulated space, something that was astounding in both words and practicality.

Drake stopped right next to me, allowing me to take in the full picture. By the looks of it, it seemed even he was entranced by the sight, unlike many of the individuals seen moving to and from the hall. Nevertheless, from afar, I would not in the slightest have doubted that any one of the individuals to disregard something such as this. It was only from where I stood could someone come to appreciate its looks.

"Yeah she really is something! I heard it took everyone three months to make, even with all the founders pitching in to help."

"The founders?"

"Yeah I'll tell you about them later, but for now, let's venture forward my newbie friend!" Brushing off the feeling put on by such a spectacle, Drake went on forward, leaving me behind to catch up.

As we got closer, I began to feel myself shrink, metaphorically of course! The sheer overwhelming size of the archway made me feel small, while simultaneously beginning to wonder if someone was just trying to compensate!

As we came nearer towards the gigantic arch, I only just began to notice how the leading corridor was starting to stretch a little wider. It made sense, seeing as something as big as this would have never fitted in the original castle setting. This entire portion of the castle would have to be expanded for something as large as this to fit. It was because of this that lead me to wonder if the corridor was being manipulated by spatial magic. Honestly at this point in time I was walking through what is an equivalent of a real live-action 'pocket-ception'!

Crossing under the arch, strangely, we walked onwards without a care in the world. The sheer size of the inner hall was not something that should be scoffed at. The walls to either side were at least a hundred meters apart, accompanied with a roof that should have extended upwards by several hundred at the very least. If any regular person was to suddenly walk inside these very halls, their heads would roll over onto their sides trying to comprehend its unfathomable size. It was, obviously, not something that they get to see very often. Fortunately for the two of us, we are not your everyday regular people, and something like this did not keep us down for the keep.

Walking further inside, 'the hallway?', we continued onward at a meagre pace. After ten minutes of walking did I begin to notice the dying levels of light! When we were nearer to the entrance, the light of the connecting corridor had illuminated everything up till a certain hundred meters or so. Now that we had ventured on further into the hall, it was clear that the level of light had reduced. With no windows present, the only source of light were the flaming torches located above each and every carving, but even they were not enough, leaving the hall looking like it was an abandoned atrium in the mines of Moria. The only difference, however, lied in the fact that we would still see a couple of others every now and then. There were as many people here as there were at the entrance, although as we ventured further I had the feeling that the frequency had reduced.

"So how long are we going to be walking, or do you plan to let your legs fall off before just giving up?" I asked.

"Oh it's not that far! Just a couple of more minutes and we should be there." He said merrily.

And so we ended up walking for the next hour and a half!

* * *

By the time we neared the end, the entrance that we had walked through was now nothing more than a tiny lone white sized dot in the dark distant horizon. As for what lies ahead, much of it was shrouded in darkness, but by squinting my eyes and concentrating, I saw that a distant wall was slowly closing up.

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"Are we there yet?"

"No"

"Is this pissing you off?"

"Nah, I'm a chill guys, and anyways we're here!" I turned my head up to see Drake walking towards one of the carvings. Said carving was ten carvings away from the last to the end of the hall. Drake who was now standing directly in front of it motioned me to stand beside him. Not seeing any reason as to why I should not, I began to walk towards him, and I would have continued doing so had 'it' not happened. Drake did not see it, and I was sure that had anyone else been there, they would have not seen it as well. Looming in the darkest part of the hall, appearing right behind Drake, the silhouette of a pair of red-bloodshot eyes stared right back at me. I took a step back!

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're going to doubt me only **after** we walked all that" said Drake, teasing me in the slightest. I looked to him for a moment, only to realize in that split second of a gap they pair of eyes had disappeared. I did whatever I could to hide the shock and for a moment I did nothing. Then came the pain!

* * *

 **[Warning]  
Foreign Entity Detected!  
Foreign Entity is infiltrating User's Mind Scape  
Sorcerer's Mind has begun enacting basic mental countermeasures**

It hurt!

 **[Warning]  
Basic Mental Countermeasures failed!  
Foreign Entity detected in User's Mind Scape  
Sorcerer's Mind has begun enacting mediocre mental countermeasures**

It hurt so much!

 **[Warning]  
Mediocre Mental Countermeasures failed!  
Foreign Entity detected in User's Mind Scape  
Sorcerer's Mind has begun enacting advanced mental countermeasures**

I had already doubled over, the pain having made me lose all control over my body.

 **[Warning]  
Advanced Mental Countermeasures failed!**

I would have screamed, but I was too weak to do that as well.

 **[Notice]  
Foreign Entity has left User's Mind Scape**

 **[Warning]  
Foreign Entity is infiltrating User's Astral Plane  
Sorcerer's Mind has begun enacting Basic Astral Purging**

Death did not come!

 **[Warning]  
Basic Astral purging failed!  
Foreign Entity detected in User's Astral Plane  
Sorcerer's Mind has begun enacting strenuous Astral purging**

I wanted it to come!

 **[Warning]  
Strenuous Astral Purging failed!  
Foreign Entity has begun altering User's Astral Plane  
User's Astral Plane has been damaged  
Sorcerer's Mind has begun enacting extreme Astral purging**

Neurons fired like crazy; my head felt like it would burst into flames! My heart may be racing, but my breathing was jagged!  
Anymore longer and I would have lost all my sanity.

 **[Warning]  
Extreme mental purging failed!  
User's Astral Plane has been altered  
User's Astral Plane has been damaged  
User's Astral Plane has been altered  
User's Astral Plane has been damaged  
User's Astral Plane has been altered  
User's Astral Plane has been damaged  
User's Astral Plane has been altered  
User's Astral Plane has been damaged**

Seconds … Minutes … Hours … Days …  
None of these came close to describing how long I was in there;  
It was probably my mind playing tricks on me, dilating time to make it longer than it seemed.  
But did it matter?  
Relative to me, it felt like an eternity;  
an eternity of utter hell and pain!  
As crazy as it sounds, I think I began to pray!  
And as crazier as this sounds, I think that prayer was heard!

 **[Notice]  
Sorcerer's Mind wishes to use [Astral Cataclysm]**

 **[YES** **—** **NO]**

I had never selected the option. I did not have to capacity to do so, but I think that 'something' had already known that;  
from the core of my body, I felt something glow warm, and then hot!  
The sensation washed through my entire being until I thought everything would burn.  
The pain washed away, and darkness enveloped yet again!

* * *

"Earth to Max, I repeat we are live and running!"

"Huh" I had no idea what was going on. The unprecedented pain had taken me by a clear surprise. The only thing I remembered before the unwarranted torture session was a wall of black taking me whole. To see Drake standing over me, hand outstretched, smiling at my downed figure made me wonder if he had noticed what had happened. If my memory served me right, I was stuck in that hellhole for at least several days, but the way Drake was acting (not to mention the fact that I was right where I was before I went off) made me wonder if anything had happened at all. Did drake really not notice anything?

"Hey man you okay? You kind of blacked out for a moment there!" He did not notice anything!

I was still lying flat on the floor, until I decided to get up, remaining careful as to not push myself; residues of pain having still ben reverberating throughout my body. Finally, once I was on my own two feet, I looked up to see Drake giving me a questionable look.

"Look I'll be honest with you, not a lot of people here fall face flat on the floor after their first few hours. I would recommend going to the sick bay, but it's up to you."

"I'm fine, really!" I replied after seeing the raised eyebrows from the foolhardy teen. "Just a bit light headed is all. I wasn't the first pick for the rugby team back home if you get what I'm saying!"

"Sheesh, well you had me worried there. Okay, not really! Anyways, we'll get plenty of time to rest inside. So if you'll just step right here …" said Drake, motioning to his side. Without anything getting in my way this time, I walked up beside him.

The moment I did, Drake raised his arms and seemingly began to channel energy up and around his body. It was a faint golden glow that originated from his chest, and it spread everywhere, traversing down his pants to climbing up the length of his arms. Placing his palm onto the carving, the whole thing suddenly lit up and glow.

Before I could even so much as utter a syllable, my entire form had suddenly felt itself twist and morph in, seemingly, impossible ways. It was similar to the experience I felt back when I was pulled into the abyss, only this was not as unbearable.

By the time the feeling of vertigo was over, I was sprawled over the floor, keeping down the urge to puke out my guts.

Either my mind was playing more tricks on me, or people were faster than I gave them credit for. Drake was not only fine, but he was already sitting down on a couch, slowly sipping away at a beverage, his feet inclined against one of the sofa's armrest. Shaking off the uncomfortable whirring in my head, I decided to check out where I was.

It was a living room that measured by at least ten by ten meters, with two other additional rooms adjoined to the opposite and adjacent side. The accessories of the living area consisted of a white two-person couch that Drake was resting on currently, with two one-person couches located just to its left and right. A filament light was in an electrical socket just overhead, giving off the traditional warm yellow light that gave us all that reminiscent comfortable feeling of home.

"Just plop yourself down anywhere. I got some leftover chicken wings that are inside the fridge, and a couple of cokes if you feel like drinking anything. In case you're wondering, tap water is drinkable. Oh and the fridge is in the kitchen area right behind me" said Drake motioning to the door frame facing the backend of the sofa, "And if you want to use the bathroom it's in my bedroom. That's the other room by the way" He said now pointing to the door frame adjacent to both of us.

"And what about answers?" I asked, wondering if any of this was even necessary.

"Dude it's been a long day! Not to be rude, but I wasn't the one falling face flat from walking. Not to mention, it's been a long day for me, so I really, and I mean I **really** need to take a small nap!" I took a long and hard look at Drake. "Come on man, pour out your heart for a brother!" He said jokingly. I gave caved in, and not bothering to waste anymore words, I made my way to the kitchen. I figured I may as well get something to eat!

Three chicken wings and a bottle of coke later I found myself sitting on the couch, waiting for Drake to get up. Not wanting to just sit around doing nothing I decided that I may as well check his place out. Going into his bedroom I was disappointed to find out that it was even barer than his living room. The only thing I could find was a single-person mattress lying face down in the middle of the room, right next to a three legged table that had absolutely nothing on it. Sighing in defeat I made my way back to the living room and slouched down onto one of the two couches.

With nothing to do and nothing to look at I figured may as well begin inspecting my ring. Trying out a few simple spells should not be too harmful, right?

Facing the couch opposite I pointed out my ring hand, thinking about a few simple spells that I remembered from long time past.

" **Wingardium Leviosa"** Saying it in the shallowest breath possible, I was pleased to find the couch slowly and gradually hover two meters into the air. Once I was satisfied with the result, I lowered my hand, which likewise caused the couch to do the same.

' _I can perform basic first grade spells without any much difficulty, but with all the enhanced intellect stats that I have stacked over one another I wonder if ...',_ I placed my hand out once more, only this time I had a different idea in mind.

' **Wingardium Leviosa'** This time, I did not speak at all, but I let the thoughts come to mind. The couch once again began to slowly rise into the air. A satisfied smirk found its way onto my face.

Now at the time I had no idea whether or not Drake liked to clean up his room or not, but a few specs of dust found their way into my nasal, and so without any prior warning I let off a sudden sneeze. The jolt caused me to lose hold of my concentration, and the couch that was once suspended in the air came crashing down. The combined forces of my sneeze and the crash caused Drake to stir from his sleep!

"Wazz going on?" was the only half woken response that I got.

"Uhh sorry about that!" I said, watching him get up half-groggily and begrudged. He looked like someone had woken him up from the climax of his ever-so-desired fantasy.

"Ah it's no problem man! Anyways, how long was I out?" Letting off a yawn he shot up and off the couch and began taking a stretch.

"Must have been nothing more than an hour. Why? Do you need to be doing something?"

"Huh, oh no, nothing noteworthy really! I just wanted to make sure I didn't over sleep and miss my late night jog!" I mentally sweat panned at his statement.

' _What is up with this guy? Is he the cross fit god reincarnate?'_ I thought sheepishly.

"Didn't want to miss out on my daily routine. Anyways, if it really was under an hour then it should be around maybe fifteen minutes after noon? What do you think?"

"Me? Uh yeah, it should be, unless you're saying time works differently here in these, _'what do you call them',_ pocket spaces?"

"Pocket spaces? Nah, we wanted to call them something a lot simpler. We settled on calling it the 'Space-Time warped personalized pocket dimensions'." I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I'm just pulling your leg! They're called 'pocket dimensions' so you're not that far off to be honest. Although just keep in mind that we categorize anything that warps Space-Time into a relatively small **personalized** volume as 'pocket dimensions'. As for the hall we just walked down, we settled on calling it 'The Keep'.

"Okay. That's that, but you and I both know that's not all I wanted to hear" I looked towards Drake expectantly, only to see him give off an unwarranted sigh.

"Okay do you want me to sugar-coat the truth or …"

"Just give it to me straight" I said is a monotone voice.

"Alright" Drake got up and began walking around the room, swaying his arms to the sides. When he turned around to face me, he was no longer smiling and finally started looking serious! "So I don't think I have to tell you that you died, or the fact that you got reincarnated. I'm also going to assume that just like all of us, you were pretty much a sociopath in your previous life, often avoiding people altogether, and pretty much remaining friendless for the majority of your life." He said it spot on! "I'm also going to assume that you were a straight A* sciences student, and you often liked divulging into topics that other people either did not understand, or were too simple minded to ever pursue. That being said, you developed a sort of superiority complex and often assumed that you were better than everyone else even though you very well knew that you were no prodigy; just a bit ahead of the average man." It was like he was reading the synopsis of a book titled _'My Miserable Life: And other Stories'_. It was kind of amusing, to see someone stand right there in front of me and discuss all my good and bad traits. Made me feel a bit more human! "I don't even need to ask you if you were a battle forum Viner, because I haven't met a single person here who isn't. I could also assume that you've read a lot of those cliché cultivation light novel, along with a lot of very good crossover fan-fics, and maybe even a couple of those boring gay-ass romance crossovers where the MC doesn't do anything interesting and just spends his time saving people and blah-blah-blah you get the point! Am I correct?" I nodded. "Good! But honestly I'm not surprised, and I know what you're thinking" he said suddenly as soon as I was about to ask him, "and I'm just getting to that part. You not only want know how I know about you, but you're also curious as to who I am, who everyone else is, why aren't you in the Percy Jackson Universe, and what the hell are you doing at Hogwarts?" Okay, that just about sums up every question I had up till this point in time. Of course there were a few more, but I decided to chalk them up for later. "Let's go over those things one by one! As for how I know so much about you, it's because, well … we're all the same. What I mean is that we are all reincarnates! All of us, and I mean the guys down in the corridors to the ones in the field, were all once nothing more than just your everyday 'more than average' Joe. And I'm assuming now, but I'm probably right, when I say that you were dragged to this world from a small black-hole type orb the size of a truck, am I right?" I was shocked to say the least. I was never expecting this kind of a development, and while although it was a real eye opener to say the least, there was something about his statement that I could not help but notice.

' _No, that's not right! It was several tens of kilometers at least. What does he mean the size of a …'_ I never got to complete my thoughts seeing as Drake continued on with his explanation.

"Now we were all like that; Smarter, sadistic, sociopathic, fan-fic reading, battle forum debating teenagers. We all died in our own ways, and we were all brought here!" I felt like the ground was going to open underneath me. If what he was saying was true, then this was way more than what I could have ever imagined, especially after being reborn. Regardless of how I felt, Drake gave no indication of ever stopping. "So we got that part out of the way, so I'll move on to the next part which is 'why aren't we in the Percy Jackson Universe?'. Well the funny thing is that we actually are in the Percy Jackson Universe, but you probably didn't know that because of the castle layout, which I'll be honest, may have thrown you off!" I looked at him in utter confusion, expecting him to offer an explanation. "All right, so you're in the Percy Jackson Universe, but you're still asking 'why the hell am I in Hogwarts?' Well the reason for that is simple! Whatever all powerful being gave us sadists a second chance at life also decided to give us a pretty cool base of operation, which is an exact replica of the Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry." My mind was gyrating on its nimble axis, ready to fall apart at even the slightest perturbation. This was all just … unreal, which is rich coming from a guy that was just reborn!

"Wait, so if we're in Hogwarts …"

"Uh yeah one more thing" Said Drake, cutting in. "While although the castle is modeled around Hogwarts, we all collectively decided on calling it a little bit something else. Something cooler, and more intimidating." My ears perked up, interested in what he was saying. "I only called it Hogwarts so that you could recognize the place in case you didn't the first time!"

"So what did you guys decide on calling it?" I said, trying best to control the overwhelming flood of emotions that tried to burst their way into my voice, weird considering that 'The Sorcerer's Mind' should have been doing that for me!

"Well, if you've ever seen 'OverLord' you can pretty much figure it out on your own!" Did he really mean it? "We decided on calling this lovely little castle … Nazarick!"

"Holy Hell … This is just … This is just … So wait, where's Hogw-err I mean Nazarick located? New York? Los Angeles? Chicago?"

"Uh okay so about that, I find that the next thing that I'm about to tell you may be the hardest to believe out of all of them. Well, you see the castle is not exactly … fixed! Remember when I said our entire base of operations is this castle? Now just imagine for a second, if someone copied, not only the castle, but everything in a ten kilometer radius around it. Now imagine yet again, that someone not only copies this entire area, but suddenly pulls it right out of the Earth, and just decided to turn it into a floating island made entirely for us! By all means, take your time!"

I'm not sure if I gave Drake a chance to finish his sentence, because the most significant thing I could remember about that talk was me suddenly standing up in complete excitement, much to the expositional teen's surprise.

' _Apparition wards are already disabled, so if my memory serves me right … deliberation, determination and destination … it should be possible!'_

"Whoa there, I know it's hard to digest but I'm not really finishe …" said Drake, completely unaware of my intentions. ***POP*** and I was gone!

* * *

F.Y.I, apparition is not a pleasant experience; my first time almost leaving me in a puddle of my own bile!

' _Deliberation; making sure one apparates while acting and thinking carefully. Determination; not holding in the slightest bit of doubts as to where I want to reach. Destination; Duh …'_ I kept these three things in mind both before and after apparating to wherever it was that I wanted to go.

Apparition was often said to be something that required a skilled wizard for success. If performed with even the slightest mistake it could lead to entire body parts being completely severed from the unfortunate witch or wizard. I had no plans to be that wizard; not today or tomorrow! Needless to say for my first time, coming out in one piece and managing to keep in my guts was far from spectacular results! However, that did not excuse me from the terrible headache that came my way. It left me sitting to the side rubbing my eyes for a good five minutes.

Once the terrible head splitting pain had resided, I finally got a chance to look up and see where I was. It was the forest that surrounded the Hogwarts castle. Or at least I thought I was!

If what Drake said was correct, then an entire chunk of land in a ten-or-so kilometer radius from the castle had been cut out of the earth like a cake, destined to be suspended over wherever the hell this floating 'loopy land' was supposed to be located!

What is important to note is that, while apparating, I was not focusing on a particular destination as much I was focusing on a certain distance. Once I calculated the range of error that a nearly-circular floating island should have, I decided to try and apparate a good hundred-or-so meters from the edge to get as close as I possibly could. Although, I will have to admit, I was being a bit reckless. There is no telling what could have happened if I apparated right off the edge. Also, if I was apparating based off of pure distance alone, then it was quite possible for me to have apparated right inside a solid object, which would have been the end of me right there. There was also the possibility of apparating several stories above the ground, or exactly right into it. I had no idea what part of the forest I was apparating into. For all I knew it was the most infested and dangerous part of the entire lot, teeming with all kinds of hostile creatures. Who knows what could have happened? The possibilities are endless! I guess due to my newfound wits and intellect I was at least able to calculate an angle from which I should apparate, preventing me from falling right to my imminent death. So I guess there was one outcome that I could cut out of the equation! But let us forget all that! That is not want why I was there. What I was really interested in was the landscape.

The forest itself did not contain anything too special, or at least, there was nothing too special that I encountered for my short stay. The evening sun was still shining bright through the open canopy, providing light to the spacious forest floor. At the ground level, the bed was littered with brown leaves, remnants of the seasons that this small patch of land has encountered.

As I got up and began walking about, in about half-a-minute or so I saw a clearing up ahead. It extended forward for a hundred meters, right before dropping right off a steep edge, from where I was standing, I could see a white bundle of clouds forming out in the distance, as if to prove itself further. Walking into the clearing, I saw it extend to both sides, their ends falling behind the curves.

Exiting the forest, a powerful gust of wind had nearly swept me of my feet! With no buildings or obstructions in the way, up here the wind reigned as a powerful intolerable force. With a bit of focus, I walked towards the edge, making sure I looked back every so often, not wanting a random beast to get the better of me.

Now just a meter away from what would be considered plummeting to perpetual doom, I got a good look at the world below.

Drake was not lying when he said the view was good. It was more than just good, but rather mind-blowingly spectacular! The view outstretched too far beyond what the eye could normally see. Vanes of stratocumulus and stratus clouds could be seen travelling a few thousand feet beneath the land mass. From the gaps in between, I could make out the color of ocean blue waves crashing and churning within itself. Far out near the horizon, like a towering god, was a cumulonimbus extending tens of thousands of feet into the clear blue sky.

It may sound a tad silly, but for once I really felt human! To just look and admire the beauty of the world, giving in to the emotions of one's heart. Am I wrong to do so? We are all human, and we all have our emotions, despite sometimes not wanting to feel it, sometimes not wanting to admit it. Maybe it is not so bad to just give in sometimes, and I did!

After checking to see if stable, I sat down and let my feet dangle off the edge. Sitting down, I let my thoughts wonder. I was carefree and relaxed, a leisure that I knew I should cherish.

* * *

Rooted onto Heaven's Earth;  
Foe of wind and sea.  
Man sought peace on barren Hearth,  
Finds naught, but misery.  
Looking down upon a hallowed Earth;  
Atop a sundered sky.  
Only when Fate plays its final cards;  
Will one be allowed to die.  
And so destiny writes the tale of old;  
Written in the blood of his blood.  
And the kin of his kin shall be reborn;

 **And an OverLord will rise!**

* * *

I looked at the elegance of this world, its peaceful systematic process, and I made up my mind!

' _This world is fucked!'_


	3. Get On With It!

It was no surprise that I was still bordering near the edge of Nazarick. Sitting on sky's edge was a moment that was too rare to pass! So when some random upstart, who I have barely begun to know, decided to interpose himself between me and my wonderful day; I felt greatly disturbed! Poor fella …

* * *

The bright blue sky radiated a young yellow glow down upon my earthly figure. I closed my eyes, taking in the feeling of the warm basking sunlight, the invigorating rushing air, and the inevitable jolt in my heart as one dense motherfucker decided to send me plummeting to my doom!

I did not react, or at least I did not react the way a normal person would, but it would be a lie for me to say that I was not taken by surprise! When I felt the shove, my entire body tensed up, and the whirring cogs in my mind had momentarily faltered. Even the most rational human beings tend to break down in unexpected situations! Of course, even in that state, I tried to remain as calm as I possibly could to pull myself out of this predicament.

A second went by, enough to conceal the identity of the culprit behind the act; my vision blocked by and overarch of dirt and stone. With nothing to grab onto, I plummeted to my doom!

The rushing air forced me to keep my eyes shut, the swish of my falling body having obscured my hearing. Pretty normal for a person who was already twenty seconds into free fall. Measuring at around 190 km/h I had already covered a third of the distance down. In my mind, I had only one thought running on playback.

' _Deliberation, determination and destination … Come on! Why isn't this working?'_ I thought desperately. The sea was coming up much faster than I anticipated, adding on to my, already, fearful state of mind. The blaring of the wind in my ears and the fear flowing in my heart had interrupted my thoughts. I could not apparate! ' _Don't do this now!'_ I thought dejectedly. Since when does the main character die, and that too on the first day! I continued my attempts, but the upcoming sea proved to be too great a distraction. I closed my eyes, well aware that it was a do or die situation. Use too much time to think and I go splat on the ocean surface. Too little time and you have a failed apparition, which I figured may as well be as bad as the former. With my eyes closed, I was saved from the impeding distraction, only to handicapped in the sense of not knowing how much time I had left! ' _Just need to focus … Come on …'_ I felt a few sparks of magic. _'Just a little more … Why can't I … Ha Ha!'_ I felt a stream of magic power run up and around my body. I tried guessing to the best of my ability and I figured that I travelled another third of the way down! It was now or never! A place came in my mind and the same thoughts played in my head once more; _'Deliberation, determination and destination …'_ I felt a swirl originate in my abdomen but ignored it. With only a few seconds left to spare I unleashed all the magic power that was swelling in my body. The flowing touch of rushing air had immediately stopped only to be replaced with something peculiar and of a different nature. Instead of the compressing and suffocating nature of my previous apparition, this time it was less unbearable. Instead of the intolerable swirling vertigo, it now felt as if my entire body was being tickled by some sort of soft flowery feather. Waiting for a few seconds it showed no signs of going away, but I was not complaining. Compared to any of my other options, this one was miles better to say the least! When I waited for another few seconds to find the feeling persist, I figured I may as well open my eyes; the thoughts of having them remain closed carried on from my previous endeavor. Although, what I was about to find came out as mildly surprising!

I had not moved at all! I mean it in the most literal sense that I can possibly say. I was completely suspended in midair, not having moved an inch from where I was. Did I cast it wrong? Regardless, I was happy with the result! Suspended a hundred meters above the ocean I tried orienting myself around, only to learn that my efforts were useless! Before I could try anything else, I felt a tugging sensation in my gut and I was slowly and gradually hoisted back up into the air. It took me around thirty seconds to go down. It only took one on the way up!

* * *

Note to all: Instantaneous acceleration and deceleration is not pleasant! Thrown callously onto the ground it took all my efforts to keep myself from fainting. In fact I might have actually done so if that shit-for-brains had not been laughing.

"What … the … FUCK!" I shouted out in anger! I looked up to see Drake howling in laughter, his entire body just rolling on the ground. Despite shooting daggers at his fallen figure, it did nothing to stop the teen from going about on his hysterical outrage.

A moment later we each begun to get up. As I did, however, there was still a strong sense of dizziness as I almost fell back of the ledge! My legs buckled and I dropped forward. On cue, Drake grabbed me and hoisted me up by the arm, all the while trying whatever he could to suppress his violent fit of laughter.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" I said, this time I shouted right into his ear. The guy did not seem to mind and instead brushed it off like nothing. In a soon moment I was finally able to stand on my own. Pushing him off I looked to see him smiling at me, almost as if this entire ordeal was nothing more than a friendly joke!

"Okay, now you're either really brave or really stupid, but I'd me god dammed if I said you don't have a good sense of control! No shouting or screaming like any of those other prissy pants back at …"

"I'm gonna ask one last time motherfucker!" I said, my anger having reached its limit, "but, WHAT … THE FUCK … DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" I said, laying it out on him.

"For fun! Duh … Like why else would I kick you off" he said, undisturbed over the fact that he nearly killed me! I gave him an incredulous look, unable to comprehend the sheer callousness or stupidity of the guy in front of me. "Relax man! If I didn't have faith in my abilities I wouldn't have done it, alright!"

"Yeah but still …" I tried to protest.

"Wait! Let me finish! Now I know you feel like tearing out my guts and hanging me off the edge with ravens pecking my eyes out but first hear me out first … Kay?" I have to admit, the guy was a natural diplomat. Whatever strong feeling of resent and murder I had towards him had suddenly been remitted, leaving me with only slight sense of annoyance at his deplorable act. The feeling felt strange and unnatural, almost like it was forced! Regardless, I gave in and huffed out a sigh, temporarily accepting defeat!

"All right … Fine, but your reason better be good!" I said in an unpleasant tone. His face beamed with happiness!

"It's good to see someone around here who likes to listen before they act! Now take me throwing you off a cliff to a trained skydiver throwing a paying customer off a plane. To any newbie who hasn't ever done it before it seems dangerous and reckless to just throw someone off. To the trained professional who has done it many times before, both to himself and others, he has utmost confidence in his ability to return everyone safely. In **your** case, I am that trained professional. I've done this many times before! It may look like I was going to let you go splat, but I was observing you the entire time! I would never have done if I had even the faintest idea that I could fail!" I looked at Drake skeptically. "Oh come on! It wasn't that bad!" I really wanted to beat the guy down with a bat. Sure, his reasoning was not **too** bad, but bad nonetheless!

"You know what, just let the past be in the past and get me out of here. I think that's enough sightseeing for today!" Drake looked at me and clapped his hands together.

"That's the spirit! Here, grab on" he said while outstretching his hand. I unhesitatingly grabbed it and for a second nothing happened. Then came the reminiscent feeling of being swirled up and constrained!

I do not need to tell you it was uncomfortable, but I am going to say it either way. It was uncomfortable! The world around me twisted and morphed until it was no longer recognizable. By the time it was over and my eyes had opened I found myself at the center of a well-lit open dining area with sport benches being pressed up to the side. My mind instantly told me that it was the dining hall of Hogwarts, but with the four table removed and the benches installed to the side it seemed more like an unused basketball court. There was a distinct sound of chattering ringing in my ear as it took me a minute in my dizziness to realize that some of the seat were occupied! Fitting in the same age group as Drake and I were teenagers seated across the hall. A quick glance around told me there were around twenty to thirty of them.

None of them was disturbed by the sudden apparition of both Drake and I. They were either too busy talking amongst themselves, or like others, were just resting with their backs against the seats, earphones having been plugged into their IPod as they listed to their favorite tunes on playback. Typical teens!

It took a moment to realize that Drake had already crossed the length of the hall, now standing at the exact spot where Dumbledore would often give his beginning year speech. Behind him, now replacing the staff's table, was a large, circular, black, granite tome that could reach up to the bottom of my chin. Walking up and standing right before it I was able to get a good look at its features; something which would not have been visible from even a meter away!

Carved out onto its front was the outline of a generic hand. One look towards Drake told me all that I needed to do. Placing my hand within the carving I felt the cold black surface seemingly suck the heat out of my body.

A distant rumble of thunder; a dark cloud swept the roof of the hall, as flashes of lightning burst forth from their thunderous black sheets. No one bats an eye! One second and a flash bang of white erupts from the black tome. Drake must have known because he had turned away last second! Jeez, a warning would have been nice!

By the time that some color was able to return to my eyes I looked forward to see a black suit of armor standing right in front of me. Blinking my eyes in surprise I took a careful step back, the intimidating height of the knight having put me on edge!

For a moment I looked at the, seemingly, empty suit of armor, not understanding what I was supposed to do. I veered to the side of the black knight to see Drake looking at me with a bored solemn expression.

' _For fuck's sake, why can't anyone just tell me what the fuck is going on?'_ After a minute of staring back and forth, Drake finally decided to pitch in.

"You know how you can see this knight here?" he says while pointing at the iron clad suit of armor.

"Knight? What knight? I'm just a fucking blind ass who can't see for shi … OF COURSE I CAN FUCKING SEE IT YOU THUNDER-CUNT, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!" I said, shouting at the top of my lungs! I heard the sounds of a 'shush' come from all corners of the hall as everyone present was vexed at my sudden outburst. I looked back at Drake who was now wide eyed in surprise. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD … STOP STALLING AND GET … TO THE FUCKING … … POIN" I did not expect it to be that hard! Now that I think about it, it was never designed liked that in the first place. He probably put in a bit more pack of a punch just to annoy the hell out of me! Asshole!

Hitting the dead center of my back, I fell forward, only to be caught in the unyielding arms of the black clad iron knight. Pushing myself off I turned around to try and face the person who did it. Seated at the far end of the hall was a kid around sixteen years of age. He wore nothing but a white shirt and a black khaki, with headphones dangling out the side of his ear. From where I was standing I could see his equally annoyed and stern face. I tried opening my mouth to shout at him, only take a second to realize that nothing came out. Oh right! Silencing spell!

There was a small collective laugh that rang out through the hall. What else could be funnier than shutting up the comically enraged loudmouth? Well, truthfully speaking, Trump running for president is a close contender, but you get the gist of what I'm saying!

His ring hand, closed in a fist, was pointed to the dead center of my chest. My ring enclosed around my middle digit felt like it was about to melt off. The unvented anger that was in my chest was being translated to magic power, and as time progressed more and more was being poured into my ring. This bastard was threatening me! Me of all people! Did he have a death wish? Whatever the case, I can deal with him later! Right now I have other things to worry about. No need to prove my worth to pathetic trash like him! I took one last look at his face, before slowly opening my fist and giving him my back. I heard a small snicker from my back, and it took all my utmost effort to stop myself from retaliating with a killing curse!

Looking back at Drake, he seemed to have enjoyed the little spectacle before him. I grunted and motioned to my mouth, asking him to undo it. In a flick of his hand that was too fast for me to see I felt my voice return.

"That … was not comfortable" I said, slowly rubbing my neck.

"Yeah just be careful around some of the guys here. They can be a bit more trigger happy than they let on!" said Drake, now patting me on the back.

"So about the knight" I said while staring at the giant hunk of metal now standing before me.

"I'll tell you about the knight later! Right now what you need to do is read this!" Drake outstretched one of his hands to his sides. The air shimmered for a moment before a brown leather-cased book materialized in his hand. The front of the book was unblemished and blank with no title to indicate what it was for. Throwing the book towards me I caught it in my open hands.

Okay, I think I should come down with my confessions! I was sort of a scrawny teen! The brown heavy book nearly toppled me over as I struggled to keep myself straight. Drake shook his head to the side in clear disappointment, probably wondering how the hell I was even selected in the first place!

"All right so everything seems to be in order here." He said while drawing my attention. He looked down at his wristwatch, his face crumpling in response. "So I have something important to check up on! I'll be gone for a bit, so in the meanwhile just sit down and read through the first few chapters of the book. It has everything to do with the know-how of the place!"

The hell was he talking about? Leave me! Does he really think he can just uppity up and skedaddle the fuck out of here! Does he not know how special I … ***crack*** … and he was gone! Fuck!

I looked down at the book he handed to me. It looked ordinary enough, but even a few hours in this place tells you to expect the unexpected. Viewing the benches to the side, I saw several of the other teens give off a cold shoulder, indicative of their lingering annoyance. I sighed in frustration! I may as well get this over with now. Finding the nearest empty seat, I sat down, and like the good little kid that I was, I began to read.

What the hell have I been dragged into?


End file.
